This is the post where I babble about my internship

Well, three weeks into my “stage” (that’s what we call an internship in French) and I feel like things are picking up. I will admit to being a horrible blogger, and apologize for keeping everyone in the dark about my every day life here in Paris. I think that the first couple weeks of my stage were just too intense and difficult for me to write about, but now, as things have settled into more of a comfortable routine, I can finally try to give you an idea of what I’ve been up to.

My stage is at Association des Juristes Berbères de France (AJBF). It’s an association of a bunch of “avocats” and “juristes” (both translate to lawyer in English, but I guess the difference between the two is that an avocat represents clients in court, in front of juries and judges, whereas a juriste can only give legal counsel and support when filling out documents and contracts and that sort of thing) who work as volunteers around their common identity of being “berbère.” Berbère (Berber in English) is the name given to people from communities in Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in North Africa, who are generally thought to have resided in those areas before the arrival of Arab populations. There has historically always been a lot of tension between berbère communities and the governments of North African countries, often resulting in treatment as second-class citizens, the deprivation of education in their own language or of representation in the government. I would need a long time to explain it all, and I don’t even think that I grasp the beginnings of the issues, but that at least gives you an idea of the background of my organization. The lawyers who work for my organization are often second or third generation French citizens, but speak Berbère as well as French. While they may have a special interest in Berbère issues, they do not serve just that community, but rather use the identity as Berbères as a common starting point to work together to provide legal aid to underprivileged persons. However, my internship is more on the administrative end of things, so I mostly work with the paid staff of the organization, and not the lawyers who make up the association.

AJBF has four main focuses in the work that it does: schools, parental involvement in the lives of their children, knowledge of rights and obligations as citizens, and issues specific to women. I’ve been able to go to events and meetings that deal with all of these issues, which has been a good introduction to the work of the association and a launching point for my research/reflective paper. I’ve been to one “intervention” at a middle school, where my boss gave an interactive presentation to the students in one of the classes about what justice means to them and what rights they have as children. It was funny – I’d forgotten how eager 11-year-old girls are to answer questions…they were practically falling out of their chairs in their attempts to be the one that my boss called on. So much enthusiasm! Where does that go? I’ve also been to a lot of legal clinics, where I’ve gotten to sit next to the lawyer or jurist and listen to the legal problems of people who stop by. They get free legal advice at these clinics, advice ranging in topics from family law (a ton of divorce cases) to immigration problems (especially people who are afraid of losing their right to stay in France). The clinics have been really interesting, but can get a little depressing at times, when you see women (or men for that matter) in such fragile positions, with absolutely no options. I don’t know how lawyers do it all the time! I’ve also been to a bunch of meetings, where interventions in schools and parent meetings are planned. Being in a non-profit organization makes me realize how much of the work that these associations have to do is just the logistical stuff – getting grants and money from local and state governments, finding partners, meeting specific needs of groups served.

So most of my time so far has been spent observing, and asking a lot of questions of my co-workers. I feel really fortunate that I happen to have some really nice people to work with. The first few days I was too shy to talk to anyone, besides the formality of saying “bonjour” when I arrived in the morning and “au revoir” or “a demain” when I left. But as time has gone on, I’ve gotten to know several of the people working at my org and the other one that shares our office, and have had some really interesting conversations and the opportunity to clarify stuff that doesn’t make sense to me. I think that I will have some great resources there as I start to work on my paper.

Speaking of my paper, I have a meeting tomorrow with my “tutrice” of my memoire, and we’re going to be talking about a subject and how to go about starting the research and writing process. I think that I’m leaning towards doing something about education (not at all what I’d had in mind when I applied to this program many months ago) and how the problems in the suburbs of Paris can be looked at as an opportunity to better the education system in France and to make it more adaptable to the diverse population that lives in the country. I don’t know how Anne, my “tutrice,” is going to react to the choice, but I hope that she’ll have some ideas on how I can make that a more concrete subject.

Well, now that I’ve talked your ear off about my internship, I think that I’ll call that a post and stop that. Thank you for all the comments, I always get really excited to see that people are reading and responding to my blog. It makes me feel like I’m at least a little bit connected to all of you. So thank you, thank you!

Love to you all, and I will post about my weekend with Miles ever so soon.

Liza

A Day in the Life: Some photos from my neighborhood and from my internship

So I know that I really need to write about my internship and what has been going on with that, and I have started. But it has taken me a while to get my thoughts straight on that subject and to figure out how to explain what I've been doing in English. So I will try to post that later this week, but for now, I took some pictures of the area around where I work and also of my neighborhood and I thought that I would share those with you.

The view when I walk through the gate to my internships. All those windows are peoples' apartments

The purple motorbike that is parked all the time in the courtyard.

That's my building, where I work everyday.

The houses that are in the neighborhood where I work. I think that they're absolutely adorable!

More of the same neighborhood...

A picture of an electric share car. Isn't is so cute. It's plugged into a thing on the sidewalk. I'm sure this is a trend that is going to catch on in the U.S. right?

An alley way, near where Nola lives. I took this picture before I talked to you about alley ways Mom. I thought that it you would like it. There was actually a model getting her picture taken while I was walking. She was doing all sorts of weird poses.

same alley way, I just thought that it was so beautifully magical

Two weekends ago, I went for a walk in my neighborhood. People call it Chinatown, and it is full of Chinese restaurants and grocery stores. Plus the Chinese-styled MacDonald's. It's everywhere!

This church is called "Church of Our Lady of China"...I thought the mural was really great.

I brought Miles into this neighborhood just for a quick walk as we went to the train station (yes I do have pictures from Miles' visit and will post them soon) and he was amazed at the change. One minute your on a street with bakeries and businesses, the next you are surrounded by chinese supermarkets and restaurants. He thought the McDonald's was pretty amusing. I'm sad that I forgot to show that to Eleni when she was here.
Ok, well I'm off to work now. Hope you all had wonderful Easters! Barb, I ate the Jelly Beans that you sent in celebration. Thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Ole, Grandma Elizabeth and Grampy for the Easter Cards. They were lovely and are on my wall!
Love
Liza

Photo Essay of My Travels: Part Three

So here it is, the final installment of my travel pictures (I know that you've all been waiting on the edges of your seats).

I got into Maastricht at around midnight on Thursday, and although Eleni and I had full intentions to go meet up with her friends from the dorm at their local bar, we ended up talking for hours instead. It was wonderful to catch up, to share our "culture shock" experiences from study abroad. I hadn't seen Eleni since I visited her in New York last June, so it was almost surreal, sitting in her room, in the Netherlands, chatting. I can't get over how weird it is to see friends from home in Europe. What a crazy experience!


After sleeping in on Friday, Eleni took me on a tour of Maastricht. Everyone said that it would probably only take us an hour (inferring that there wasn't much to see) but I think that we proved them wrong by taking 2 or 3 hours to walk around. Maastricht really does have an old world feel. It was quite a change from Berlin, which has been pretty much rebuilt since 1945. The roads are all cobblestone and the buildings are sooooooooo old, and really beautiful. I like going places where I really feel like I'm somewhere different (almost the all the time while I've been abroad).

The houses and businesses along the river Maas

businesses (mostly cafes and restaurants) in the main square

The really creepy statue memorial in downtown Maastricht, a tribute to extinct animals of I can't remember what country. It looks like a seal pit from an old zoo, but there are different animals at the bottom, trying to escape. Very chilling, just in the middle of a park.

Eleni with the depressed bear statue in the same park as that other creepy statue thing. I pointed out to Eleni, who had never noticed it before, that although the bear looks like a normal bear (sad, but normal), it has human hands. It's a person in a bear suit. So strange! I'm not sure what is up with Maastricht.

The view from the old fort in Maastricht, so beautiful!

Friday night, Eleni and I went with Jack and Kabir (Mac students) and two Danish guys from their dorm to a tiny little bar that boasted over 100 types of beer. It was just like the guide book said: the owners (a husband and wife) call you their "victims" rather than customers, and you don't get to order, they just pick out what they think will be good for you (they ask you what you want in a beer, and won't let you say "dark" because that is a color and not a taste of a beer). You can imagine that I, with all my worldliness and knowledge of beer, really knew what I was talking about when I said what I wanted. It didn't matter. We all got really amazing beers, all so different. I had no idea that there was so much variation in taste of beer, but now I have a much better appreciation. Dad and Keith, you would have loved the place. I think that Eleni took notes on our favorites, so when I get back we can try to find some at an import liquor store.

Saturday we woke up early, because the Macalester kids had decided that we were all going to Cologne. It's in Germany, but only a few hours away from Maastricht by bus and train. Plus, there's a deal in Germany that on weekends, you can buy an unlimited day-pass for the train for 5 people that only costs 35 euros (which is just too good to pass up!). So we took an hour bus to Aachen, and then another hour by train to there to reach Cologne.

Immediately, upon walking out of the train station, you come upon this monster of a church. I think it's really the only thing that people come to Cologne for, unless they're chocolate nuts (there is a chocolate museum in Cologne as well).

You can see that Eleni is very excited to be seeing the church, as are the millions of people that seemed to be visiting it as a Saturday activity.

To get up to the top of the church, you have to climb over 500 steps, all in a really spirally staircase which made me really dizzy by the time I got to the top (Dad, this would have been a horrible activity for you). So now I can never again complain about the 130-some steps (or whatever it is) that it takes to get up the Main Street Stairs in Stillwater.

The view was really worth the climb though. The top of the church was amazing, I took about a bazillion photos of the architecture.

The magical view from one of the window way up top in the tower of the church.

View with a gargoyle in the way (I thought that this looked like an artsy picture to take, but it really just turned out to look like nothing).

More of the architecture

Back down on the ground in Cologne, we walked around and enjoyed the adorable buildings that lined the river. They look like they're out of some Hansel and Gretel fairy tale!

Back at the church, about to head out on the train. Unfortunately, my camera was having a hard time with the darkness, and so Eleni and the church turned out all blurry.

Sunday Eleni and I lounged around and talked and then had lunch in adorable cafe before I had to catch my train back to Paris. I will have to admit to being really sad that my vacation was over (especially since I have no more breaks until I finish my program), but I do feel really lucky that I got to travel as much as I did. Plus, I couldn't be too sad, because Eleni had already bought her tickets to come visit me in Paris (I will have to post the pictures of her visit in the near future).

The train was a wonderful way to end my travels. I got to look out the window for three hours as I rode across the southern tip of the Netherlands, Belgium and then through the north of France. I have to say that a lot of it reminded me of rural Minnesota, with lots of fields everywhere and no buildings in sight, just a few farm houses scattered here and there. I guess all the Europeans that moved to the U.S. really did leave their mark on the American society.

Well, I will be posting about my internship very very soon I promise! I hope that everyone is enjoying spring break or at least a few days off around Easter. I'm not sure that I get any days off, but I do have a visit from Miles to look forward to.

Love to you all,

Liza

Photo Essay of My Travels: Part 2

Hello again! Here is the second installment of photos from my recent traveling, this time they're of my visit to Laura in Berlin. They are just a few of the many pictures I took, so if you're unhappy with the selection, you can let me know and I can always post more. So here it is: Berlin.

People in Berlin, like in Copenhagen, bike a lot. I just wish that Paris had bikes like this, all over the place. Perhaps when it gets warmer? I just think that if everyone had one, then a) the metro would be less crowded, and b) I would be able to find one for cheap. But for now I’m content to use mass transit. It is incredibly easy and does go everywhere (that’s a not so subtle jab at the transportation system in the Twin Cities!).

Laura had an amazing room. I’m so jealous that I had to show everyone the amazing place that she lives in. It’s just huge, artsy, with wood floors and beautiful, big windows. It’s ok though, I’ve over my envy. Well, sorta.

The Reichstag, which we climbed to get a view of the city and of the chamber where the parliament votes.

The dome on top of the Reichstag, with it’s incredible glass cone that looks right down on the seats of the representatives. It also has these really spirally stairs that made me a little dizzy. If it had been a clear night, we could have seen stars from the hole in the top of the dome.

The Fernsehturm, or TV Tower, Laura’s favorite thing in Berlin. She’s actually got about 200 some photos of it. I’m not sure if she has pictures of anything else in Berlin. We went up to the top, which has a rotating restaurant, where we bought beers and dessert (so German). It was an incredible view of the city, and better still, there were explanations (in English, no less) of what you were looking at as you went around the tower.

The really haunting remains of a church, bombed out during WWII. That was one of the most impressive things about Berlin, the combination of really new architecture with bombed-out, relics of the city that used to exist before the wars.

The castle close to Laura's apartment. In the spring and summer, I guess the gardens are great, because they're designed in swirls and patterns of different colors. We, however, were more concerned with feeding the ducks.

This is the really famous East-Berlin walking guy (not actually sure what to call it). I think these guys are so adorable. They’re also hard to photograph, because you have to stop in the middle of the road and they only seem to be located at really busy intersections. But don’t worry, I didn’t get run over, so all is well.

The Holocaust memorial, which doesn’t look really deep until you enter inside. Then you’re totally surrounded by these huge, tombstone-like structures that tower above you. I thought it was incredibly appropriate, because it takes a while to walk through, and you can easily lose your way or the people you’re with, forcing you to really just reflect. I know that it was pretty controversial, but I thought it really does what that kind of memorial should.

The Berlin wall, or at least what remains of it. We walked along the western side, which is I guess the side that didn’t have art commissioned for it, so it’s just really amazing graffiti. I just couldn’t believe our luck that, despite the cold rain, the sun came out and made a rainbow over the wall. I feel like that has to symbolize something, right?

Check-point Charlie, where you can pay to have your passport stamped by a guy dressed up in an army uniform (I opted out of waiting in a line of tourists). It was really strange to just be there, a place that used to be such a big deal. Now there’s a museum, cafes and tourist shops all around. But the sign still stands, letting you know which side you’re on. A little bit eerie. Especially since all over the city they’ve paved a line where the wall used to stand. Strange to think that Berlin used to be cut into two parts like that!

And that's where I'll finish for now. Hopefully I'll finish these posts soon, so that I can get you all up to date with my internship and life back in Paris. Enjoy the weekend!

Love,
Liza

Photo Essay of My Travels: Part One

I'm calling this a photo essay in honor of Eleni (who used that word more times then I could count while I was visiting her). Because I have so many pictures, I'm going to separate them into 3 parts: Edinburgh, Berlin, and Maastricht. That way I can space out my posts to pretend like I'm writing more often then I am.

The view from Hannah's room. She lives in a flat with 4 other girls (I think I have that right) and a squatter from New Jersey. It was great to wake up on the first full day of my vacation to see that there were all sorts of things to explore outside.

We never did figure out this outfit, which all the little girls in Edinburgh seemed to be wearing. I was really curious as to what made all their parents let them wear pink wigs. But I'm serious, every little girl I saw during my visit was dressed like that. I think that Grace, Angell and Ellie would go crazy over something like that.
Just a typical street in the old town, where both Hannah and Doug live.

Tourist trap. Funny that it's really common for people to dress up as Mel Gibson and not as the actual historical guy he was portraying in Brave Heart (Mom, I know you loved that movie, especially all the violence!)

Enjoying the sights from the walls outside the castle.

The Edinburgh Castle, on the edge of a huge cliff over looking the city. Pretty incredible. We just stayed on the outside though, because you have to pay to go in and from all accounts the outside is much better. And we're cheap.

Aurthur's Seat, right in Edinburgh. Unfortunately it was too windy to climb while I was there. It was so strange for me to see big hills with nothing on them after being in Paris for so many weeks. There are hills in Paris, but they're covered in houses and churches and apartment buildings. I think that that's why I loved Scotland so much, because on the train ride and during my visit, there was so much natural beauty everywhere (you may call me sappy, but it's true!).

Just more proof of how windy Scotland is. I had a hard time standing up along the railing and taking a picture at the same time because the wind was blowing so strongly that it kept pushing me over

Coffee and tea in the coffee shop where J.K.Rowling started to write Harry Potter. How exciting.

Hannah's birthday dinner, made with love. We decided on comfort food, so we made macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and Becky (the girl on the right, a Madisonite studying in Edinburgh) made a delicious salad. It was a wonderful way to spend my final evening in Scotland and to celebrate Hannah turning 21.

Those are just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took in Edinburgh, but really, who wants to see all those. When I get back, Nad and Keith, you can have a slide show. I will post the next 2 sets of photos soon. Miss you all and hope that March finds you well and happy.
Love,
Liza